The things you can discover online. I just went and looked at Teena’s Irish Lucas . . . Love it!! *grin*

I never thought of RA being Jewish, either. It never crossed my mind, frankly. And I think only jealous, insecure heterosexual males want to see him as gay. Poor things, they feel so inadequate next to him, one suspects.

Me, too, but I find myself poorly equipped to diagnose male desire. I had two or three conversations about DDA with men in the spring — I got two male friends to watch the film, plus my friend and colleague the former Cambridge professor, who had seen it already — all heterosexual, all of whom said that DDA was not in the least attractive. I thought she was stunning — *I* wanted to kiss her!

She was lovely . . . could it be the 19th century costuming and hair that made her less attractive to them, I wonder? I saw her in an ep of Torchwood where she was glammed up 21st century style and if I were a guy, I think I would definitely have found her sexy in that role, but she looked (and behaved) quite differently in that role-she was a very seductive alien, not a genteel young Victorian Lady.

Now, I personally have a girl crush on Halle Berry. I am flamingly hetero but I could not fault Adrien Brody for laying one on her after he won the Academy Award a few years ago. I think she is a little cafe au lait goddess.

When I was in grad school, my roommate and I had an informal list of “women so hot that I we would be lesbians for them.” Halle is really pretty but she is not on my list. De gustibus non est disputandum, of course.

Paraphrasing Lucas North in Spooks 9.1: “Don’t even get me started on men.” 🙂

Re girl crushes, Angelina Jolie is lovely (although I hope she doesn’t get carried away with plastic surgery procedures) but she scares me a little . . . she seems like the type who could mate and kill. I kept seeing all these women with tattoos–not small, discrete tatts but big ol’ tattoos and lots of them–on the cruise and found myself wondering, “Do they think it makes them look like AJ?” Because frankly, it didn’t.

Lucas North is the only creature I want to see that much ink on. Sorry, a bit off topic.

My husband and I were really starting to wonder at all the big, colorful tatts we saw on guys and gals, including, as he said, “Some people who really ought to be old enough to know better.”

We felt a little better when we saw that some of the tatts kept repeating themselves–the same butterfly, same flowers–and realized at least some of them were courtesy of the body art lady on the cruise ship.

Apparently some more mature ladies such as myself decided to get temporary tattoos along with the corn-rowed hair in Mexico. Not really a good look for a lot of people, either.
This mature lady keep her hair and flesh boringly untouched, thank you very much.

I had a student from Delhi a few years ago who got me to have a pattern painted on my hand and arm in henna at one of those campus multicultural days. I think that looks great on people who aren’t whiter than the Stapuff Marshmallow Man, and I liked looking it myself, but it was just wrong for my complexion. Unfortunately.

But, and this is key, it wears off. No interest in permanently marking my body that way.

Yes, temporary is the key. I have a co-worker who has a tiny tattoo of Yodie from the Garfield cartoons on her ankle . . . which she is now undergoing costly laser treatments in Montgomery to try to get rid of. It now looks like a faintly dog-shaped blob.( : She is early 30s, wife and mom of two, marketing manager for the paper and it’s not “her” anymore. I think that’s the problem I have with tatts–we change over the years, physically, yes, skin stretches and sags and wrinkles, but also our tastes and activities and goals, what have you, change. Look at how Johnny Depp had to have Winona Forever changed to Wino Forever! LOL

Yep, he certainly strikes me as the classic male physique–he puts the statue of David to shame. There’s a reason my female characters tend to think of RA’s characters as quite Adonis-like, a regular child of Venus, just made for love . . . And gosh, wasn’t he beautiful on horseback in RH? What posture. *sigh*

I don’t think any men crush on RA. The reason is: I was visiting my daughter and four-year-old grandson last week; my daughter and I were watching north & south and saying nice things about RA; my grandson crawled up in my lap and whispered “Gwama, I don’t wike Wichahd Ahmitage” (he still has trouble with his ls and rs).

I was thinking about that after I wrote this post because asking if someone is Jewish is bifurcated, it can mean “is he of Jewish extraction?” (NO) or “is he observant of the law?” (also no, but Idon’t see how we would know even if he were). Judaism as a religion is light on dogma (esp in comparison to Christianity) and allows for a certain amount of heterodoxy in terms of what Christians would call actual belief. There are similarities between some aspects of Buddhism and Judaism and whole groups of so-called “Bu-Jews” who see no incompatibility between them. Plenty of Christians similarly hold to elements of religions other than their own and incorporate them in their daily lives. And then in our age of syncretism, we’re all reading the scriptures of different traditions in the course of the search for meaning, which is something that Mr. Armitage definitely seems to engage in.

In other words, the question is badly put for our current circumstances once we venture beyond the question of Judaism as an ethnic category. He could be a faithful churchgoer to a C of E church and there’d still be people who would say he wasn’t “really” Christian for whatever reason. And there are no licensing agencies for declaring oneself Buddhist. 🙂

“To live and let live, without clamour for distinction or recognition; to wait on divine love; to write truth first on the tablet of one’s own heart – this is the sanity and perfection of living.” THis is a quote fromt he american founder of christian science Mary Baker Eddy. In early interviews, he had used the first part of this quote several times, he’d somehow work it in.

Yes,@Rob, I cut myself off from all email and internet activity for several days–we all need a break. It’s just been hard coming back to reality (what? No one waiting on me hand and foot? LOL)

Actually, I recently dreamed I was interviewing him in the back of a London taxi cab —RA, and not a character, a very informal, relaxed interview with a good deal of bantering back and forth. I can’t remember a thing he said, just that he was very lovely and charming and with a marvelous sense of humour and a little of that endearing shyness. My favorite dream of late.

My brain is mushy at the moment after a marathon writing session for our sister publication to the south, @Rob, so I won’t try to properly list the serious and thoughtful RL questions right now.

I will say there are some I would love to ask him just for kicks–no pen in hand, no recorder on, strictly off the record–like “How sick are you of people bringing up the bloody circus, Richard?”

And “Tell me the truth. What was it really like working opposite Genevieve O’Reilly? Did you ever take those long runs you’ve talked about in other interviews to exorcise the pain and frustration you must have felt knowing series 8 was NOT going the way it should . . . and did you wish they’d cast a co-star whose nose would have meshed better with yours for kissing scenes?”
LOL
Of course, he’s much too much of a gentleman and pro to respond to such questions and I would never ask them . . . would I??

@angie, good to see you back – good cruise? Agree the male pattern jealousy re: RA is dumb. Problems with my telco isp this morning. Heart sinks every time it raises an issue. Considering I was librarian with this telco for some years, why don’t they give me a break from system problems?? (Can’t do math, either, so can’t solve these little things myself.) The obligatory hour with the help desk. At least they have real people on the desk…

RA and Christmas trees! Poor man, he really can’t even sneeze, can he?

@fitzg, thanks, good to be back. Good cruise, not the best we’ve had (this is our fourth, and the first two were so sublime it’s tough to beat them) but the weather held for us and the vibrant colors both on board ship and in Mexico were a feast for the eyes . . . and it was lovely to spend time with Hubby. Much worse ways to turn 50, I must say.

For some reason, I see Richard as enjoying all the traditional holiday activities like a Christmas tree, a family dinner, gift giving . . . I’ve assumed a C of E background, but I sort of thought he might have explored Eastern religion and philosophy re some of the things he has said.

He may not be an overtly religious fellow, but he seems to be a spiritual person, if you get my drift.

Apparently he was caught in the act, not just carrying the tree around. 🙂 I also remember that once someone observed him buying a ladder in a DIY store. And that’s about it! Both supports the picture he paints of himself.

I will have to put it on my list, you know I do like to write a special holiday story or two, iz4blue. I also really need to do a Lost and Found update with Guy, Allan, Minerva and Moira. And Lovelace and his bonny ladies . . . oh, so many ideas, so little time!!

Thanks, servetus; at least gmail is up and running. But I might just kidnap that techie who is actually promised to turn up tomorrow to re-hab the system. Tempted to kidnap him/her, chain them to the wall of the computer room, and preserve my own personal Malcolm, in amber. I do promise to feed – really good with dogs and cats.

Good-oh, angie. I remember 50. Just. Being waited on hand and foot sounds rather nice…

Love the Christmas tree pappa-spotting! And he bought a ladder! Such is the stuff of dreams. Restrain your sneezes, Mr. A. We’re OUT THERE!!! 😀 Poor chap…

Those crew members on board the cruise ships earn every penny and I don’t begrudge them the gratuities one bit. They kept us fed (I did room service breakfast several times), kept the cabin and bath immaculate and the ship–well, it was ship-shape! Yes, being pampered on the high seas for a few days is not at all a bad way to reach the half-century milestone, @fitzg.

Richard is so–endearing to me. I miss those wonderful manly sniffs we used to get with Guy. *sigh*

Now it’s my turn to thank you for the interview link (from Free Library). Where have I been that I missed that incredible (if older) interview? That just rocked my world. It’s the most personal info I’ve heard him share in an interview. Are there others like this one out there? I’m going to re-read it again because I don’t think everything sunk in! Thanks! 🙂

It’s not linked from some of the usual places because it apparently caused a minor uproar. I’ve only been a fan for six months, so I don’t really know the whole story, but apparently he didn’t realize he was on the record when he made this remarks. As some fans felt it reflected poorly on him, not all of the fan sites link the piece and it can be hard to find.

I just read the interview a couple of times and I think it’s a great interview. I’m surprised that it did get negative reviews. I think it shows he’s a human being, with the same struggles and doubts as the rest of us. Thanks for posting the link. But I do understand why he’s not as open on interviews anymore.

I agree with you — I think the general vagueness with which he speaks allows him to say interesting things. The only reservation I’d have if I were him is if my LAMDA GF were reading about herself that “I never thought she was the one,” if that would hurt her. On the other hand, whoever that is probably already realized it …

And this was done before he really did a lot of interviews, so I think it’s safe to say he said a few things he wouldn’t have later on when he become more skilled at the process and a bit more careful about what he chose to reveal. I can’t see him somehow as purposefully setting out to hurt said GF’s feelings . . . the fact no former loves have come forward and castigated him in public for his mistreatment of them (which would have certainly happened in this country, but perhaps not in more reserved England) makes me think he has always basically been a gentleman in such manners. I put that down to the proper upbringing by John and Margaret (and would we expect any less from them?)

I should add that some of our local sports figures should take a page out of Richard’s “How to Be Interviewed” book as they are appallingly bad at putting their feet in their mouths and then clumsily try to backtrack (a recently dismissed coach–who played in the NFL and coached in bigger place and really should have known better– actually tried to say a sophomore player said the foolish remark that came out of his own mouth and which the reporter make extra sure Gregory wanted to say. Nice one, Coach, blame it on the kid! LOL

It’s linked up at the top of this post, Ann Marie.
Certainly worth the read and I agree with the other ladies, I appreciate his candor and willingness to admit his faults and foibles. And I also understand after the brouhaha and a more recent one which was much ado about nothing re some comments he made about part of his fan base, why he started putting more distance between himself and interviewers and fans.

There are some fans who are WAYYYY too serious and have a limited, possibly non-existent sense of humor. They are the ones I think fell for Mr. Thornton and just can’t get beyond that. JT is lovely, but he IS NOT Richard. Richard is Richard, whomever that may turn out to be . . .

No, certainly not all. Just a small but irritating faction who just won’t let go of their Thornton worship and have given poor Richard (who has said he is a people pleaser) some grief along the way.
Again, I can’t blame him for backing off from part of the fandom. They made their own beds, I fear.

I was glad I read the article and, and yes I know this girl of his first time to possibly read his comment but I also felt bad for him that his first time wasn’t one born of love. Of course I also go THUD at the thought of him saying “lust” in the same deep accented voice that he says “just”. Oh my.

Yeah, I thought it wasn’t very nice of First-Time Girl to run off and blab about it to everyone. She really doesn’t get much sympathy from me.

It seems more like it was a “I need to do this so I can say I’m not a virgin anymore” situation for Richard than any real depth of emotion for the girl, so while I am sure she embarrassed him by kissing and telling, the fact he didn’t “love” her kept him from having a broken heart over it, I suppose.

Since we’re on the topic, it’s also interesting that to get out of being teased he wouldn’t have just hinted that he wasn’t a virgin anymore, perhaps after a school vacation spent at home or something like that. I could guess that he wanted not to have to lie about it; or that he didn’t think he could like about it credibly; or even that he was just, like most 17 year old boys, wildly curious about what it was like and feeling ready to get it over with.

Perhaps he thought that “someone” was watching and wouldn’t approve of him lying?

So interesting that this man chose (and thank heavens he did!) the profession of acting, because I sense he is an honest soul at heart (or perhaps it is just my wishful thinking again) and maybe he really did feel uncomfortable about lying or truly thought he couldn’t pull it off successfully.

And here he is, lying for a living in a sense, pretending to be all these characters and doing it so beautifully that he touches our souls and breaks our hearts.

Knowing the raging hormones of typical teenage boys–I’m married to a former one and knew him back when–I’d say the third option is pretty likely, too.

But I don’t think that performers per se think about their performances being lies. I am not an actor, but I know I went into my performing professor self as a way to communicate something real, but then realized that the only way I could be successful at that was bybuilding a persona that was at least partially deceptive …

Actually acting is more of escaping into another persona . . . I had a performing teacher self, too. As an educator, you’ve got so much competing for the attentions of your students, so you pull rabbits out of hats, if you will, to engage them . . . to get their attention to share that something real. We have to wear a lot of hats in our lives, and I am not just referring to the stacks of headgear here at my house.

Acting allows someone with a gift like Richard’s to explore a personality perhaps far different from his own–the pacifist playing the dedicated killing machine soldier, for example–and to discover new things about himself along the way, I would imagine. To plumb new depths and new heights.

Such a precarious profession, and yet the rewards one can reap from it must also be most sublime at times.

By the way, I have to tell you I LOVE teachers and profs. And not just because I used to teach.
I did a marathon of interviews with teachers across the county before my holiday and was reminded of that all over again. To teach is to touch lives.

Yes, it’s different, and still, there are important similarities. I have it fairly easy as a teacher because my “real” personality only has to be modified in the classroom to be successful (and even so I experience it as prolematic). But I have colleagues who, in order to improve their teaching evaluations, have learned to become substantially different people in the classroom. It’s almost disturbing to watch …

While eagerly ingesting every scrap from interviews, I try to keep from basing my perception of the Real RA on those snippets. As with all of us, privacy is greatly to be valued. The Real chap is not someone I will meet, get to know, any further than the good old stage door, if that happens. He is himself in RL, whatever that may be, and I have to keep focusing on the actor. Or so I keep telling myself.

While loving this blog, and it’s analyses, and the intent of the blog, and everything that servetus garners from the Net. Tailoring, bigod! 🙂 Autumn recipes! 😀 Much corn on the cob coming up here, with one of our most gorgeous tree-displays ever! And following some Commonwealth Games in gymnastics over this week. Maple Leaf Forever! And every other Commonwealth nation.

Oh Canada! *grin *Our cruise ship director was from the Great White North.

Re Richard and “knowing the Real RA”:

I’ve given many people a glimpse into my world through newspaper columns over the years and many of those people have told me, “I feel like I knew your mom” or “you seem to have such a close family” and so forth. They commiserated with me when struggling with the decline of our parents, dealing with personal health issues, loving and losing pets, rejoiced in the good times, and so forth.

It’s a little scary sometimes to share those things with other people, but I’ve also been told, “You said exactly what I was feeling but just couldn’t put into words, Ang. Thank you. That really helped me.” Journalist as therapist? Hmmmm. (I’ve also written some funny stuff to make people laugh, it hasn’t all been angsty)

For me, Richard, through his marvelous performances, says the things I can’t put into words.

My readers don’t know, can’t know all there is about me–I am a public figure in my little pond and yet very private at the same time; I choose what I wish to reveal, make no mistake about it. And I think Richard’s the same.

That being said, I truly do like what I do know about him. And I like what I know of the vast majority of people who like the man.

So it’s all good. Yes, vive tailoring and corn on the cob and all the other fun stuff that comes with this blog.

And I do always try to be kind, even when total strangers come up to me and start chatting like I’m their BFF.LOL

It was disconcerting at first, but then I realized, ah, they recognize my mug shot or they heard someone say my name. I am thankful people read my stuff and keep me gainfully employed, and it’s always lovely when they compliment you on your work.

I’m actually a very shy person by nature and I’ve worked hard at breaking out of that shell over the years. As you say, we are different people in different settings and we have to do our best to juggle them all.

To one little boy whom I will love forever, I am “Camera Girl.” I almost feel like a super hero! *wink*

I agree that we need to be asking ourselves regularly whether we’re not being unreasonable. At the same time, it’s hard not to wonder about “the real Armitage”. The key is moderation, I suppose, as the Greeks would tell us.

Something appears to have gone wonky with your latest post . . . the one on Spooks 9.3. I opened it, read and commented and now it won’t let me access it at all. *scratches head* Awww, heck, I need to go to bed.

Believe me, I tried. However, the Hounds of the Baskervilles, aks Elvis, Beauregard and Rascal, are barking their handsome mongrel heads off. Methinks I shall have to go out into the brisk night air and investigate . . . oh, my furry children!
Say what you will about cats, but at least they don’t BARK.

That said, I’m left with an evil, bad-tempered cat. Long story, something to do with son and daughter-in-laws’ Animal Rescue compulsion. I get the overload. And I’m a flipping DOG person. And the cat is not a gentleman….and he doesn’t bark, but he has an RA repertoire of moans, yells, squawks. Had some teeth out this summer, so to his frustration, even the dracula eyeteeth can’t get a strong grip on my wrist any more. Ha ha, bloody Cat!! Who’s winning now?

Is it OK @fitzg if I am a general “critter” person? I just love my furry friends.

We’ve had as many as 12 cats and dogs (inside and out) because we have a large flashing neon sign outside our house (invisible to humans but easily seen by every cast-off animal that appears on our road) that says “SUCKERS LIVE HERE” . . . I am on the board of our humane society, too.

Right now we have the three hounds (actually one German Shepherd mix and two part bloodhounds, all black and tan in color) who welcome me home each evening (I bring them French fries from time to time–they love em all cold and limp LOL) and four cats who live inside. One we inherited from Benny’s late dad. He’s huge. Benny said one day archeologists are going to dig him up and wonder why people had a mountain lion living with them. LOL

He has huge, soulful eyes and knows how to work them just like RA and always smells of popcorn. Go figure.

We also have Thumper, a three-legged tuxedo cat with a Hitler mustache and a nervous condition, Puddie, a fat, fluffy long-haired cat who is a total diva and Callie, beautiful, sweet, intelligent and “one of us,” says Spouse.

I am sure you will be blessed for your charity to the Evil Feline. *grin*

The Evil One’s not-a-gent character is probably the reason I put up with him. He’s interesting. Quintessential anto-hero. Our Dad/grandad was of the Great Gen generation and had one dog at a time. The weak-minded Baby-boomer and Gen X/whatever/gens just keep adopting, and I keep getting the son’s overload. There are better issues to address. But there is that weakness for the furry things. Just shoot me. I’m a BB.

Also inherited from said Dad, an Old English sheepdog, imposed on Dad by animal-weak little sister. Between beauty-parlour treks, had to keep the OE hair out of eyes with nail scissors.

No, this does not earn a place in heaven. It’s obviously not altruistic. And there are other issues to dedicate. But. someone has to look after the furry things…even when they come with conditions and learning disabilities, and ….

Favourite (deceased) dog was large smooth-haired tan and white Pound Hound. My size and weight. Toss-up as to who was walking whom. We bonded. He was a gent.

Pound hounds can be the absolute best, methinks. Our current Rascal’s predecessor, Raascal I, was a Shepherd/Collie mix and he was truly a gentlemanly soul. There was nobility there. Sadly, he and three other of our dogs disappeared, one after the other, and we literally couldn’t find hide nor hair of them. It was spooky and so upsetting.

[…] of assimilation, about half the people there were non-Jewish partners of Jews. Given that, although there’s not even a whiff of Jewishness about Richard Armitage, I could have met him there, I suppose, but odds would have been that, as a non-Jew, he’d […]

[…] work. I don’t care to go skiing, my career as a recreational dancer was abbreviated; I don’t read him as particularly religious in a way that meshes well with my piety. I suspect there would be a serious conflict in the ways that he and I have, respectively, of being […]